Make a Bat-Theme Halloween Doormat for Your Front Porch

BH&G Holiday Editors

Welcome this year's trick-or-treaters with a DIY personalized doormat that's decked out for the holiday. We'll show you how to turn a blank coir mat into a festive front porch display in under an hour. You only need four other materials, so your DIY doormat could actually be cheaper than a storebought version; print out our free bat template and start painting!

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How to Make a Halloween Doormat

Supplies Needed

  • Blank coir mat

  • Masking tape and newspaper

  • Spray paint in orange and black

  • Kraft paper

  • Spray adhesive

Step-by-Step Directions

Follow these easy how-to instructions to make your own bat-theme doormat for Halloween. You should be able to finish this project in under an hour.

Step 1: Prepare Your Mat

To start this DIY Halloween project, purchase a plain cocoa doormat and download the free bat pattern. Enlarge the image as needed to fit one large bat in the center of the mat, or print out several smaller bats and place them around the edges of the mat. Download our bat pattern for free as many times as you need!

Step 2: Paint

Protect your work space with newspaper before beginning the DIY doormat. Place the mat on your work surface and cover the center of the mat with more newspaper. Secure the newspaper with masking tape, leaving 2 inches uncovered beyond the tape for the border. Spray-paint the exposed border orange and let the paint dry. When using spray-paint, make sure your work area is well ventilated.

Step 3: Trace the Bat Pattern

Cut out the free bat pattern and fold the bat in half down the center of the body. Cut a sheet of kraft paper slightly larger than the mat; fold this paper in half as well. Trace the bat pattern onto the paper, aligning the folded edge of the pattern with the folded edge of the paper. Once traced, carefully cut the folded paper on the drawn lines. Unfold the paper carefully; this will become your painting guide for the Halloween doormat. If you're making a mat with several small bats instead of one large bat, repeat this process for as many bats as you want to paint, making sure all other areas of the mat are fully covered.

Step 4: Paint Bats

Use spray adhesive on one side of the cutout bat kraft paper. Center the paper on the mat with the adhesive side down, firmly pressing the cut edges onto the mat. Spray-paint the bat shape black, spraying straight down with short strokes to avoid spraying paint under the paper; let dry. Remove the kraft paper pattern to reveal your Halloween doormat.